Gluing frame



Oct. 19, 1943. R, GREEVY 2,331,972

GLUING FRAME Filed March 9, 1942 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 .FIG'. 1.

INVENTOR. Aoszxerzzsw A TTOR/VE Y5.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 R. GREEVY GLUING FRAME Filed March 9, 1942 Oct. 19,1943.

INVENTOR. 14 0552761655 w BY #1 4! w m Arm/21w: vs.

0a. 19, 1943. R. GREEVY GLUING FRAME Filed March 9, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheets Patented Oct. 19, 1943 GLUING FRAME Robert Greevy, Los Angeles,Calif., assignorto Summerbell Roof Structures,

Los Angeles,

Calif., a corporation of California Application March 9, 1942, SerialNo. 433,933

12 Claims.

I This invention relates to a gluing frame of the character employed forgluing up the timbers to form a laminated wooden structure- It isparticularly adapted to the gluing up of the laminations of curvedwooden structures such as for example, arches and the curved top chordsof roof trusses, although it may be used for gluing up the laminationsof straight wooden structures.

An object of the invention is to provide a gluing frame having a seriesof adjustable uprights against which the timbers that form thelaminations may be positioned and to provide means for temporarilyholding the timbers in applied position prior to. tightening the timbersin firm engagement with each other against the uprights.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gluing frame wherein thevarious parts are readily adjustable enabling. structures to be glued upwhich. have varying radii of curvature and which may be of various crosssections, such as for example, ordinary laminated arches or curvedchords, ledger chords, and the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved gluing framewhich is so designed that a plurality of separate laminated structuresmay be assembled thereon and lued up together independently of eachother so that when the frame is completely loaded a large number of alaminated structures may be held in compression while the glue thereonis drying or hardening. In this manner a plurality of structures can beproduced simultaneously upon a single loading of the glue frame.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which Will be mademanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointedout in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an end portion of the gluing frameembodying the present invention, this portion being typical of theentire length of the gluing frame and parts of the uprights beingillustrated in horizontal section;

Fig. 2 is. a view in side elevation parts being illustrated in verticalsection illustrating one of the uprights of the gluing frame and themanner in which the gluing frame is loaded;

Fig. 3 is a partial view in front elevation of the lower portion of theupright illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section through a portion of one of theuprights illustrating the laminations forming one of the woodenstructures in the process of being tightened up;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, illustrating the laminations ashaving been completely tightened against each other; h f

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 66 uponFig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a section perspective View of a portion of one of theuprights.

Referring to the accompanying V drawings wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar partsthroughout, inasmuch as the'improvedgluing frame has been primarily designed for the gluing up of curvedwooden structures, such as arches, the top chords of trusses, and thelike, it will be described primarily with reference thereto.

To this end, the improved gluing frame comprises outer and inner curvedsills I 0 and I I which extend the entire length of the gluing frame.These sills may be bolted to the floor such as by bolts l2. and I3. Theyhave curvatures that roughly correspond to the majority of the curvedlaminated structures that are to be glued up. On these sills there is aseries of base members I4, each of which is equipped with an upright I5held in upright position by diagonal braces I6. The base members I4 haveradial outer slots IT and radial inner slots i8. Similarly the sills Illand II have longitudinally extending slots I9 and 20. Bolts 2i extendthrough the slots I! and I9 and similar bolts 22 extend through theslots I8 and 20. Thus by loosening the bolts 2| and 22 the individualunits that provide the upright members I5. can be adjusted with respectto the sills so that the outer faces of the uprights may be positionedon any desired curvature which may for may not conform to the curvatureof the sills. By means of. this adjustment a single gluing frame can bevaried or adjusted to glue up laminated wooden structures having variousradii of curvature.

The upright members I5 are preferably made of three laminations eachsuch laminations being indicated at 23, 24, and '25. The centerlamination has its sides grooved as at 26 and 21, see Fig. 7, toaccommodate the legs 28 and 29 of stirrups 30. The grooves 26 and 2'!are shaped as illustrated in Fig. 7 so that the stirrups may eitherassume upwardly and forwardly inclined positions with respect to theuprights I5 as illustrated by the two uppermost stirrups shown in Fig.2, or they may assume and be limited to horizontal positions as shown bythe four lowermost stirrups illustrated in Fig. 2. The legs of thestirrups 28 and 29 are slidable through the grooves 26 and 2'! whichform slots in the uprights and are then positioned in bridging blocks,Th jackscrews 31 have a series of apertures 3| formed therein throughwhich a bar 32 may be positioned. Thus, the stirrup may be adjustedforwardly or rearwardly with respect to the upright member l and a barinserted in th proper aperture 3! to hold or look the stirrup in thedesired position. The rear face of the upright is preferably equippedwith a steel plate 33 against which the bar 32 bears. The forward end ofeach stirrup is widened to accommodate the tops and bottoms of bridgingblocks 34. Spacers 35 tend to resist collapse of the widened forwardportions of the stirrups. The bridging blocks ably shouldered as at 36to accommodate the foremost portions of the stirrups. portions of thebridging blocks above and below the shoulder 36 enter the stirrupsvertically adjacent thereto. Each bridging block has two aperturesextending horizontally therethrough one such aperture being indicated at34a and the other at 34?). Jackscrews 31 are optionally receivable ineither the apertures 34a or 34?). These jackscrews are screwed throughnuts 38 that are welded onto U-shaped brackets that embrace the rearedges of the bridging blocks. Each jackscrew has a swivelled foot 39that is adapted to engage and tighten up the laminations of the woodenstructure that is to be produced.

As will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 6, each bar 32 is of such alength that it extends laterally beyond the side of the adjacent uprightl5. This projecting portion is adapted to receive and pivotally supporta series of dogs 40. The dogs that compose each set mounted on a bar 32are of various lengths and have hooked outer ends indicated at 4|adapted to engage the outer side of the individual laminations. Theforemost faces of the dogs are cam-shaped as indicated at 42 so that asthe laminations are tightened towards the uprights [5 by the jackscrew 3the dogs may be consecutively cammed or squeezed out from between thelaminations as they are brought into surface to surface contact.

The operation and advantages of the improved gluing frame are asfollows: Assuming that it is desired to produce a laminated woodenstructure 50 feet in length and having a radius of curvature of 50 feet,the various timbers T that are to form the laminations of such astructure are first assembled or made up. These timbers may be made upof small segments secured together by glued scarfed joints or theequivalent. .Each timberis of the required length and may. have glueapplied to its opposed faces. The innermost timber is first positionedagainst the uprights adjacent the center of the glue frame on top of thelowermost stirrup. As the timber will normally tend to remain straightits ends will tend to remain spaced from its uprights 15 that arearranged toward the ends of the glue frame as illustrated in Fig. 1.

In order to maintain the first timber in applied position the shortestdog is swung about bar 32 as a center and has its hooked forward endpositioned against the outer face of the lamination as illustrated inFig. tions may then be applied and temporarily held in position by beingengaged by their respective dogs 40. When the entire number oflaminations that are to form the wooden structure have been thusassembled the bridging blocks 34 the lowermost stirrups and the stirrupsnext above are swung to horizontal positions so as to engage the upperends of the 34 are prefer- The reduced 4. Succeeding laminathen havewrenches applied to their squared outer ends and are tightened to forcethe caps or plates 39 toward the upright members I5. In the course oftightening, the outermost lamination will be tightened first intoengagement with the next innermost lamination as illustrated in Fig. 4,and as these two laminations come into surface to surface contact thedogs that engage between these laminations are squeezed or are cammedout as illustrated in Fig. 4. The tightening of the jackscrew iscontinued until all laminations are brought into surface to surfacecontact and all dogs are squeezed out as indicated in Fig. 5.

The laminations are then left in the position shown in Fig. 5 until theglue dries or sets after which the jackscrew can be loosened, thestirrups swung upwardly into inclined positions, such as are illustratedat the top of Fig. 2, and the bridging blocks removed to permit removalof the completed glued up structure from the frame.

The assembly of the timbers making one laminated structure on the gluingframe does not tie up the entire frame while its glue i drying orsetting. The timbers of succeeding arches or chords can be similarlyassembled between the stirrups thereabove and independently tightenedtoward the uprights l5 as illustrated in Fig. 2. Usually if the arch orchord is relatively narrow and has straight sides two arches or chordsmay be simultaneously assembled together and tightened up between twoadjacent stirrups. These arches or chords are separated from one anotherby a spacer or batten strip 43. If, however, the arch or chord has aledger such as is indicated at 44, usually only one laminated structureis tightened between two adjacent stirrups.

It will, of course, be appreciated that the sets of dogs 40 will not beuniform for all of the upright members I5. Thus, those dogs that arenear the center of the gluing frame will be somewhat shorter than thesets of dogs near the ends of the frame. In other words, in Fig. 1, theset of dogs applied to the endmost upright I5 will be slightly longerthan the set of dogs applied to inner upright members and these willconsecutively decrease from the ends of the frame toward the center.With this arrangement it is relatively easy forthe timbers that are tomak up the completed structure to be assembled together on the gluingframe and temporarily held against the uprights prior to the tighteningup of the laminations by the jackscrews. During the tightening operationthe dogs are removed or are squeezed out automatically.

If it is desired to glue up a laminated wooden structure having adifferent radius of curvature the bolts 2! and 22 are loosened and thevarious units that provide the upright members are adjusted so that theupright members will be arranged on the desired curvature. During suchsliding adjustment there is danger or tendency for the units to tilt onthe sills l0 and H which might cause the bolts 2| and 22 to split thebase members I4, particularly adjacent their forward ends. To guardagainst this it is advisable to glue in transverse dowels through theforward ends of the base members to resist such splitting.

From the above-described construction it will be appreciated that theimproved gluing frame is highly advantageous in that it is readilyadjustable to manufacture laminated wooden structures having variousradii of curvature that a plurality of such structures can be tightenedup and held in curved position simultaneously while the glue thereon isdrying or setting, and that by the use of the dogs it is very easy toassemble the timbers forming the laminations together against theupright members and hold them temporarily prior to the completetightening up. If the glue frame is to be used for gluing up straightlammated structures it is sometimes possible to adjust the units on thesills Ill and l i so that all of the uprights 55 are arranged on astraight line. This is particularly true if the laminated structure isshort. If not, it may be necessary to mount the upright providing unitson straight rather than curved sills. I

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the pirit or scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A gluing frame comprising a plurality of uprights agamt which timbersto be glued can be positioned, means for tightening the against theuprights, and dogs mounted on the upright engageable with the outersides of the timbers for temporarily holding the timbers against theuprights prior to the tightening of said tightening means, said dogshaving outer cam surfaces enabling them to be squeezed or cammed outfrom between the timbers as they are tightened up by the tighteningmeans.

2. A gluing frame comprising a plurality of spaced uprights againstwhich timbers to be glued may be tightened, stirrups adjustably mountedon the uprights, bridging blocks adapted to be positioned in adjacentstirrups, said bridging blocks having jackscrews arranged to tighten thetimbers against the uprights, there being slots formed I in the uprightsadapted to receive the legs of the stirrups, said slots being so formedthat the stirrups may assume horizontal positions extending forwardlyfrom the uprights or upwardly and forwardly inclined positions withrespect thereto, cross bars receivable in any of a plurality of holes inthe stirrups, and dogs pivoted on the cross bars engageable with theouter sides of the individual timbers to temporarily hold the timbersagainst the uprights prior to the tightening of the jackscrews.

3. A gluing frame comprising front and rear sills, units providinguprights adjustably mounted on said sills, a plurality of tirrupsadjustably mounted on each upright, bridging blocks receivable betweenthe forward ends of adjacent stirrups, jackscrews carried by thebridging blocks, bars receivable in holes in the stirrups and sets ofdogs pivotally mounted upon said bars, said dogs being arranged toengage and temporarily hold timbers against uprights prior to thetightening up of the jackscrews.

4. A gluing frame comprising front and rear sills, units providinguprights adjustably mounted on said sills, a plurality of stirrupsadjustably mounted on each upright, bridging blocks receivable betweenthe forward ends of adjacent stirrups, jackscrews carried by thebridging blocks, bars receivable in holes in the stirrups and sets ofdogs pivotally mounted upon said bars, said dogs being arranged toengage and temporarily hold timbers against uprights prior to the tightening up of the jackscrews, said dogs having cammed outer faces wherebythey may be automatically squeezed out from between the timbers as thetimbers are tightened against each other.

5. A gluing frame comprising a plurality of spaced uprights againstwhich timbers to be glued may be tightened, a plurality of stirrupspivotally mounted on the uprights in vertical timbers alignment,bridging'blocks adapted to be positioned between vertically adjacentstirrups, each bridging block being adapted to bridge the space betweenthe adjacent stirrups and to only partially extend therethrough wherebyadjacent ends of adjacent bridging blocks may b receiVed in and held bythe same stirrup, and means on the bridging blocks for tightening thetimbers toward the uprights.

6. A gluing frame comprising a plurality of spaced uprights againstwhich timbers to be glued may be tightened, a plurality of stirrupspivotally mounted on the uprights in vertical align ment, bridgingblocks adapted to be positioned between vertically adjacent stirrups,each bridging block being adapted to bridge the space between theadjacent stirrups and to only partially extend therethrough wherebyadjacent ends of adjacent bridging blocks may be received in and held bythe same stirrup, means on the bridgin l s for tightening the'timberstoward the uprights, and means for supporting the lowermost stirrup.

7. A gluing frame comprising a plurality of spaced uprights againstwhich timbers to be glued may be tightened, a plurality of bridgingblocks adapted to be positioned forwardly of the uprights, tighteningmean on the bridging blocks for tightening timbers to be glued againstthe uprights, and a stirrup mounted on the uprights and extendingforwardly therefrom for each pair of vertically adjacent bridging blocksand within which the adjacent ends of adjacent bridging blocks isreceivable.

8. A gluing frame comprising a plurality of spaced uprights againstwhich timbers to be glued may be tightened, a plurality of bridgingblocks adapted to be positioned forwardly of the uprights, tighteningmeans on the bridging blocks for tightening timbers to be glued againstthe uprights, and a stirrup mounted on the uprights and extendingforwardly therefrom for each pair of vertically adjacent bridging blocksand within which the adjacent ends of adjacent bridgin blocks isreceivable, each stirrup being pivotally and adjustably mounted on theuprights.

9. A gluing frame for gluing up a curved laminated structure made up ofindividual timbers comprising a plurality of spaced uprights arranged inaccordance with the curvature of the structure and against which thetimbers to be glued may be tightened, means on the uprights extendingforwardly therefrom for tightening the timbers against the uprights, anda plurality of dogs of consecutively increasing length pivotally mountedadjacent the uprights and extending forwardly therefrom engageable withthe outer sides of the individual timbers for temporarily holding theindividual timbers pressed toward the uprights prior to tightening thetimbers thereagainst by the tightening means.

10. A gluing frame for gluing up a curved laminated structure made up ofindividual timbers comprising a plurality of spaced uprights arranged inaccordance with the curvature of the'structure and against which thtimbers to be glued may be tightened, means on the uprights extendingforwardly therefrom for tightening the timbers against the uprights, anda plurality of dogs of consecutively increasing length pivotally mountedadjacent the uprights and extending forwardly therefrom engageable withthe outer sides of the individual timbers for temporarily holding thindividual timbers pressed toward the uprights prior to tightening thetimbers thereagainst by the tightening means'said dogs having cammedouter faces arranged to automatically shift the dogs from between thetimbers as the timbers are tightened into engagement with each other.

11. A gluing frame for gluing up a curved laminated structure made up ofindividual timbers comprising a plurality of spaced upright arranged inaccordance with the curvature of the structure against which the timbersto be glued may be tightened, a plurality of stirrups adjustably mountedon each upright and extending forwardly therefrom, bridging blocksconnecting the forward ends of the stirrups, tightening means on thebridging blocks for tightening the timbers against the forward faces ofthe uprights, and a plurality of dogs of consecutively increasing lengthpivotally mounted on the stirrups for engaging the outer sides of theindividual timbers and holding them pressed toward the uprights prior totightening the timbers thereagainst by the tightening means.

12. A gluing frame for gluing up a curved laminated structure made up ofindividual timbers comprising a plurality of spaced uprights arranged inaccordance with the curvature of the structure against which the timbersto be glued may be tightened, a plurality of stirrups adjustably mountedon each upright and extending forwardly therefrom, bridging blocksconnecting the forward ends of the stirrups, tightening means on thebridging blocks for tightening the timbers against the forward faces ofthe uprights, and a plurality of dogs of consecutively increasing lengthpivotally mounted on the stirrups for engaging the outer sides of theindividual timbers and holding them pressed toward the uprights prior totightening the timbers thereagainst by the tightening means, said dogshaving cammed outer faces arranged to automatically shift the dogs frombetween the timbers as the timbers are tightened into engagement witheach other.

ROBERT GREEVY.

